Doctor Who: The Last Adventure, Part 2: The Red House
by Alan Barnes (Big Finish, 2015)
Not much of a standalone. The Doctor is uncharacteristically dismissive of the pseudo-werewolves, based purely on pro-human prejudice and the writer’s need to muddy the waters. Charley and the Valeyard act in ways that are explicable only within a bigger picture (presumably).
Doctor Who: The Last Adventure, Part 1: The End of the Line
by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris (Big Finish, 2015)
Decent enough drama, up to the point where the Master comes in with a pointless and impractical evil plan, and the Doctor thwarts him by talking a rulebound functionary into acknowledging said Master’s manifest breaking of rules. Colin Baker impresses, as always.
Doctor Who: Dalek
by Robert Shearman (Penguin, 2021); audiobook read by Nicholas Briggs (BBC, 2021)
Lawks, what a slog. Shearman takes his own outstanding script and plumps it up into the most middling of novelisations, diluting the action with a stultifying deluge of minor character backstories. Audiobook bonus: Briggs’s Christopher Eccleston voice sounds like a comedy impersonation.
Doctor Who: Quantum of Axos (Tenth Doctor, Classic Companions)
by Roy Gill (Big Finish, 2022)
The story isn’t particularly gripping but there’s a good dose of ‘new nostalgia’ in hearing the Tenth Doctor meet up with Ace (in modern times Dorothy McShane). Ace remains one of the best-developed Doctor Who companions and Sophie Aldred plays her beautifully.
Doctor Who: The Stuntman
(Tenth Doctor, Classic Companions)
by Lizie Hopley (Big Finish, 2022)
A fast-paced mess with running about galore and great dollops of exposition. The pairing of David Tennant and Sarah Sutton will warm fans’ hearts, but Dr Gommen is a bog-standard evil scientist (and mostly absent). John Leeson enjoys a rare non-K9 outing.
Doctor Who: The Vanity Trap
by Stuart Manning; dir Scott Handcock (Big Finish, 2020)
![Audio CD cover: "The Sixth Doctor and Peri, Volume One" (Big Finish, 2020) [review of “Doctor Who: The Vanity Trap” by Stuart Manning; dir Scott Handcock]](https://www.derelictspacesheep.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Sixth-Doctor-and-Peri-Volume-One-2020.jpeg)
A decent concept that foregrounds character and plays out in longer scenes than is usual for Big Finish. That said, the story still manages to rush and muddle itself at the conclusion. The disharmony between Peri and the Doctor feels rather tacked-on.
Doctor Who: The Headless Ones
by James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown; dir. Scott Handcock (Big Finish, 2020)
A fairly bland offering whose only real point of difference is an unhappy ending (which the players don’t lose much sleep over). Parsons and Stirling-Brown have a go at female empowerment only to make Amanda and Siyanda hapless figureheads rather than exemplars.
Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen
by Mervyn Haisman & Henry Lincoln
dir. Gerald Blake (BBC, 1967/2022)
The animation is serviceable (the yeti in fact look slightly less cuddly in cartoon form!) but the original story is terribly ponderous and presents vast chunks of ‘dead’ time where there is neither dialogue nor incidental music to offset the visual limitations.
Doctor Who: Conflict Theory
by Nev Fountain; dir. Scott Handcock (Big Finish, 2020)
A fun, frivolous story that, beneath clever execution, explores the more serious question of the Doctor’s culpability in exposing his companions to danger. Fountain’s script is spot-on. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant revel in a character dynamic rarely done justice on television.
Doctor Who: A Town Called Mercy
by Toby Whithouse; dir. Saul Metzstein (BBC, 2012)
Whithouse delivers unto the Wild West setting a diverting yet not insubstantial self-contained episode. Ben Browder makes a compelling marshal. Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill put in nuanced performances to balance Matt Smith’s uncommonly volatile embodiment of delighted child and world-weary ancient.